Cocaine, both powdered and crack, is the primary drug
threat to the District of Columbia. The level of cocaine abuse is
decreasing but remains high--the number of treatment admissions associated
with the abuse of cocaine is higher than the number associated with any
other illicit drug except heroin. According to the Treatment Episode Data
Set (TEDS), there were 1,924 powdered and crack cocaine admissions to
publicly funded treatment facilities in D.C. in 2001, a 7 percent decrease
from 2,074 in 2000. According to the 1999 and 2000 National Household
Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA), the percentage of D.C. residents who
reported having abused cocaine in the year prior to the survey (2.1%) was
statistically comparable to the percentage nationwide (1.6%). Drug Abuse
Warning Network (DAWN) data indicate that there were 2,830 cocaine
emergency department (ED) mentions in 2000 and 2,894 in 2001 in the
Washington, D.C., metropolitan area--more than for any other illicit drug.
Preliminary estimates indicate that there were 1,032 cocaine ED mentions
from January through June 2002. The rate of cocaine ED mentions per
100,000 population in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area (69) was
slightly lower than the national rate (76) in 2001. (See Table
1.) Cocaine
also is a factor in a significant number of deaths in the District. DAWN
mortality data indicate that there were 42 cocaine-related deaths in
Washington, D.C., in 2001, more than for any other drug.

DAWN ED data for the Washington, D.C.,
metropolitan area in 2001 were collected from hospitals in the
District of Columbia and surrounding areas, including five
counties in Virginia and five counties in Maryland. DAWN
mortality data also were collected for the District of Columbia
and surrounding counties in Virginia and Maryland; however, the
mortality data included in this report are for the District of
Columbia only.

Cocaine is readily available throughout the District.
Cocaine is seized more frequently in D.C. than any other illicit drug
except marijuana. According to Federal-wide Drug Seizure System (FDSS)
data, federal law enforcement officials in D.C. seized 32.7 kilograms of
cocaine in 2002. The Metropolitan Police Department reported seizing 14.5
kilograms of powdered cocaine and 28 kilograms of crack cocaine in 2002. According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission (USSC), the
percentage of drug-related federal sentences that were cocaine-related in
D.C. (72.1%) was higher than the percentage nationwide (42.5%) in fiscal
year (FY) 2001. (See Table 2.) Of the sentences that were cocaine-related,
58 resulted from crack cocaine violations, and 17 resulted from powdered
cocaine violations.

Table 2.
Percentage of Drug-Related Federal Sentences by Drug Type,
District of Columbia and United States, FY2001

Sources: USSC.*Represents the percentage of federal sentences that are drug-related.

Cocaine prices, already relatively low, are decreasing at
the retail level, indicating an increasing supply of cocaine in the
District. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
Washington Division, powdered cocaine in D.C. sold for $17,500 to $35,000
per kilogram, $600 to $2,000 per ounce, and $30 to $80 per gram in the
fourth quarter of FY2002 (down from $50 to $100 in the first quarter of
2002). Crack sold for $30,000 per kilogram, $900 to $1,750 per ounce, $80
to $100 per gram, and $10 per rock during that period in the fourth
quarter of FY2002.

Colombian and Dominican drug trafficking organizations
(DTOs) and criminal groups transport most of the cocaine available in the
District. In response to the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC)
National Drug Threat Survey 2002, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department
officials reported that local African American and Hispanic street gangs,
commonly known as crews, also are involved in cocaine transportation into
the city. Cocaine is transported into D.C. primarily from New York City
via private and commercial vehicles. However, cocaine also is transported
from Philadelphia, Miami, and Los Angeles using similar conveyances.
Package delivery services and couriers aboard buses, trains, and
commercial aircraft also are used, although to a lesser extent, to
transport cocaine into the District.

Colombian DTOs as well as Colombian and Dominican criminal
groups are the primary wholesale-level distributors of powdered cocaine in
the District. However, the Metropolitan Police Department reports that
Asian, Indian, Italian, and African criminal groups also distribute
wholesale quantities of powdered cocaine in D.C. African American and
Hispanic crews and local independent dealers are the dominant retail-level
distributors of both powdered and crack cocaine. Most of the crack cocaine
available in D.C. is converted locally by retail distributors on an
as-needed basis.

Cocaine, particularly crack, is the drug most often
associated with violent crime in D.C. Federal and local law enforcement
officials indicate that territorial violence associated with crack cocaine
distribution contributes to D.C. having one of the highest per capita
homicide rates in the nation. The number of homicides in D.C. increased 12
percent from 233 in 2001 to 262 in 2002.